Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, on "This Week" on ABC Sunday morning to talk about the Dark Knight massacre in Aurora, Colo., said that the death of 12 people in the movie theater is unlikely to have an impact on gun control.

Cars remain in the parking lot of the Century 16 movie theater, late Friday, July 20, 2012, in Aurora, Colo., nearly 24 hours after a gunman killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens of others watching the latest Batman film in one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Ted S. Warren

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, on "This Week" on ABC Sunday morning to talk about the Dark Knight massacre in Aurora, Colo., said that the death of 12 people in the movie theater is unlikely to have an impact on gun control.

"Aurora, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Ft. Hood, the list goes on and on," Ramsey said when asked by host George Stephanopoulos whether Saturday's incident will make a difference to the debate over gun control. "Unfortunately, in my opinion, the answer is absolutely nothing. There will be a lot of talk, alot of debate, but this will fade into the background like the other incidents that have occured. People will continue to get their hands on guns."

Ramsey said that Philadelphia police have been paying "special attention" to movie theaters and other locations where large amounts of people gather.

"But the issue for me is I can't put a cop in every movie theater for now on or on a shopping mall or college campus or high school," Ramsey said. "And these are all locations where we've had mass shootings in the past, so we have to find a solution to that."

Ramsey, who pointed out that the plague of gun violence is a daily worry in big cities across the country, said that gun control legislation would not "totally stop this sort of thing from happening," but that there need to be limits on the weapons that people can get their hands on. He called for a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, a registry of guns and mandatory reporting of all sales of guns.

But Ramsey isn't hopeful that anything will actually happen.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, on "This Week" on ABC Sunday morning to talk about the Dark Knight massacre in Aurora, Colo., said that the death of 12 people in the movie theater is unlikely to have an impact on gun control.

"Aurora, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Ft. Hood, the list goes on and on," Ramsey said when asked by host George Stephanopoulos whether Friday's incident will make a difference to the debate over gun control. "Unfortunately, in my opinion, the answer is absolutely nothing. There will be a lot of talk, alot of debate, but this will fade into the background like the other incidents that have occured. People will continue to get their hands on guns."

Ramsey said that Philadelphia police have been paying "special attention" to movie theaters and other locations where large amounts of people gather.

"But the issue for me is I can't put a cop in every movie theater for now on or on a shopping mall or college campus or high school," Ramsey said. "And these are all locations where we've had mass shootings in the past, so we have to find a solution to that."

Ramsey, who pointed out that the plague of gun violence is a daily worry in big cities across the country, said that gun control legislation would not "totally stop this sort of thing from happening," but that there need to be limits on the weapons that people can get their hands on.

He called for a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, a registry of guns and mandatory reporting of all sales of guns.

But Ramsey isn't hopeful that anything will actually happen.

Said Ramsey: "Many of our legislators unfortunately on the federal level lack the courage to do anything."

Later, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said that "reasonable gun control laws" won't stop this type of incident, but will reduce their frequency.

"No citizen should be able to have an automatic assault file, no citizen should be able to have" a clip with more than 10 bullets, Rendell said, adding that it was an "incredible act of cowardice" for Congress to let the assault weapon ban expire.

About this blog

Philly Confidential, which covers crime in Philadelphia and the suburbs, is written by Daily News staffers Dana DiFilippo, Stephanie Farr, Vinny Vella and Morgan Zalot.